Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR)

Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research - Radcliffe Department of Medicine

We perform 2000-2500 clinical CMR scans a year for patients from Oxfordshire and the surrounding regions. We consistently receive high patient satisfaction ratings, with >95% of patients rating our service as good or excellent.

What a CMR ('cardiac MRI') scan involves

Cardiac MRI is a safe test that uses magnets, radio waves and a computer to make detailed pictures of your heart and major blood vessels.

The scan creates both still and moving pictures of your heart, to look at its structure and how it is working. The doctors use these pictures to help them decide the best way to treat people who have heart problems.

The scan usually takes between 30 and 60 minutes, depending on how many pictures are needed. (The whole appointment will last up to 90 minutes). Before your scan we ask you to fill out a screening form to find our if you have any medical objects or medical devices (like a pacemaker) in your body.

Some devices are safe in the MRI machine but some are not.

We ask you to lie on your back on a table that slides into the open-ended scanner. Cardiac MRI is painless and harmless but can be quite noisy. We will ask you to wear headphones - you can listen to the radio or bring your own music on a CD.

The doctor or radiographer will talk to you through the headphones, and ask you to hold your breath for 6-10 seconds at a time, while the pictures are taken. The doctor or radiographer will control the scanner from the next room and can see you through a glass window.

Sometimes we will give you an injection of dye (contrast) into a vein in your arm as part of the scan. This helps to show the muscle of your heart in more detail.

Our team

Consultants

• Prof Stefan Neubauer (OCMR clinical director)
• Prof Saul Myerson (Clinical Lead for CMR)
• Prof Ollie Rider
• Prof Vanessa Ferreira
• Dr Joanna d'Arcy
• Dr Jenny Rayner
• Dr Harry Boardman
• Dr Will Jenkins
• Dr Marco Spartera
• Dr Valantou Nikolaidou
• Dr Alex Stockenhuber
• Dr Mayooran Shanmugunathan

Lead radiographer

Mrs Rebecca Mills